


Destiny

by Notquiteright



Category: Dark (TV 2017)
Genre: But also free will, Destiny, F/M, Getting Together, Snapshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25266415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Notquiteright/pseuds/Notquiteright
Summary: Elisabeth Doppler is Noah's destiny; she is also so much more.
Relationships: Elisabeth Doppler/Noah | Hanno Tauber
Comments: 14
Kudos: 68





	Destiny

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I have to admit the third season of Dark wasn't my favorite but these two. Gosh. I just had so many feelings about Noah/Elisabeth, and I wish we could have gotten a bit of them in the show. So. After some internal debate (mostly consisting of "hoe don't do it") I caved. Full disclaimer, I am not an expert on sign language, like at all. Dialogue in sign language is indicated by being typed in bold italics.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

_You cannot escape destiny, no matter how hard you try_ Adam told him once, with a bitterness that belonged to someone he once used to be. _You might run around the same circle all your life, ignorant of the strings that push-and-pull, dictating your every move. Or you might run headfirst into destiny, by doing everything you can to prevent it: a self-fulfilling prophecy. No matter what you do, the universe will find a way. And the cycle continues._

Noah’s destiny is Elisabeth Doppler. He doesn’t know why, or how. His older self is sparse on the details. 

“Her father is going to be killed and she will have no one left. You need to make sure she is safe. She _has to be_ safe.” is all that he says. Noah knows himself, can see the tell-tale signs of a lie in his own eyes. No. Not quite a lie. But there is definitely something more his older self wants to say. 

“Is she important?” Noah asks, somehow needing to know. Why does she need to be protected? Is she in danger? Who is she? His older self looks pained suddenly, but doesn’t elaborate. 

“You need to make sure she is safe.” he repeats simply before leaving.

Noah doesn’t understand why he would be so vague: after all, the more he knows the more effective he can be. But, he supposes, watching his older self converse with Adam in hushed tones, he will probably succeed either way. The future version of him did: it’s destiny. 

He’ll do his part, as many times as he needs to. And then Adam will take him to Paradise.

***

Noah sees Elisabeth Doppler for the first time and it’s like a puzzle piece clicking into place. He doesn’t know what great mystery of life his heart solved, but in that moment he knows he’s found something important. It _feels_ important, despite the fact that all his brain supplies is a strange sort of wonder: there she is, the girl he is destined to protect.

Noah doesn’t feel like much of a protector when a shivering Elisabeth, covered in so much blood, attempts to tell him what happened, only to break down in hiccupping tears after managing to write down a single line: 

_My father is dead_

Noah realizes with guilt-tinged relief that he is glad that his older self didn’t warn him when or how Elisabeth’s father would die: he wasn’t allowed to prevent it, but as he tries to gently calm down a heartbroken Elisabeth he thinks he might have tried.

***

He tells Elisabeth about Paradise. On bad days, they use it like a mantra, to keep going, always coming back to this: tell me about Paradise.

On good days, they search for the passage and then… talk. Talk about the life before the apocalypse. Sometimes Elisabeth almost seems to forget that he doesn’t belong here, talking about her past like it isn’t his future, slowly but surely slipping mentions of her family into their conversation. It makes Noah feel trusted, included: in turn he tries to bring up his past in the same casual manner, dropping facts here and there. 

They know when to ask and when to leave a question unsaid: both of them have scars, both of them are woken up by nightmares from time to time. They are careful not to bruise yet eager to learn.

And when a blow lands (whether intentionally or not), or when they are faced with failure, or when the memory of the past is too heavy to carry they have their Paradise: the promise of a future.

***

Elisabeth finds him, sitting outside underneath a tree. She hands him a bowl filled with soup, and her gaze is firm.

_**You haven’t come inside to eat.**_ she signs, looking concerned underneath her stubbornly stern mask. 

_**I wasn’t hungry**_ he replies, then adds: _**but thank you.**_ Elisabeth watches him for a moment as he starts eating before sitting down beside him with a sigh. 

_**Jonas told me.**_ she broaches the topic cautiously. Noah isn’t surprised he did. Their experiments failed, yet again. And he knows, he knows they eventually find a way, he has seen living proof of that but… it has been years. It’s hard not to have doubts, no matter how ashamed it makes him to admit that.

Elisabeth nudges him and gives him an expectant look at his silence.

_**Yes?**_ he asks like he doesn’t know what she wants which only serves to annoy her. 

_**You’ve been brooding out here for an hour.**_ she tells him. Noah feels slightly indignant at that.

_**I am not brooding.** _

_**You are.**_ she smiles with a hint of smugness. _**Jonas agrees with me.**_ Noah sees the way her stare slowly turns assessing, calculating before asking: _**Do you want to talk about it?**_

He shakes his head. _**Not right now.**_ Elisabeth probably expected this answer because she only nods.

_**Then I’ll stay here with you.**_ she signs quickly then scoots closer to rest her head on his shoulder, settling there comfortably.

His breath hitches at the warm and solid presence at his side, while his traitorous heart skips a beat. It does that a lot around Elisabeth lately, Noah notes. He isn’t naïve enough not to realize what’s happening. He simply doesn’t know how to feel about it, or what to do. 

Somewhere along the line the way he perceived Elisabeth had shifted: she was no longer the terrified girl in the cave he was sent to protect. He doesn’t know what she is now but he knows what he wishes she could be.

Noah is supposed to protect Elisabeth; he is not sure whether he is allowed to fall in love with her in the process.

***

“You care about her don’t you?” Jonas asks one day. He doesn’t have to clarify who he means. It’s obvious. Noah hesitates, not uncertain about what his answer actually is but what it _should_ be. Jonas must be able to read between the lines because he smiles, though it’s wistful.

“You should tell her.” he says after a beat, staring off into nothingness and probably seeing Martha there “You never know how much time you’ll have together.” 

Noah thinks about that for a while. Thinks about that when he sees Elisabeth laugh over the fire at dinner, and when she wakes up next morning, her hair a tangled mess with an adorably put upon expression on her face at the intrusion of sunlight upon her dreams. He thinks, and thinks and thinks.

_**Everything okay?**_ Elisabeth approaches him a few days later. _**You’ve been very quiet.**_

Noah has always tried to follow the path laid out before him as faithfully as he could. He feels like he’s arrived at crossroads and is now faced with a choice. Standing on the edge he could take a step back, back to safety; or he could take the plunge. 

_**I think I’m in love with you**_ he confesses in the rush of the free-fall. But Elisabeth is there to catch him.

She smiles, a dimpled, delighted smile that makes him near-dizzy with relief. Noah thinks that she doesn’t look surprised; it’s almost as if she had been simply waiting for him. 

_**I love you too**_ she signs, leaning in to place a chaste kiss on his lips before pulling back and averting her eyes almost bashfully.

“Noah!” Jonas cries, stepping out from the house. “Claudia has an idea.” he explains. Noah nods in acknowledgment, so Jonas goes back inside, though not before eying the pair curiously.

Noah nearly lets out a sigh at the idea of having to go back to work right now, but then he spots Elisabeth who is still giving him a sunny smile, growing amused at his disgruntled expression.

_**Duty calls**_ she teases but reaches out to intertwine their hands afterwards, leading him back tp their makeshift home.

Noah follows, hand-in-hand with Elisabeth Doppler, the girl he was destined to protect and the woman he chose to love.

**Author's Note:**

> If you think "wait a minute did older!Noah deliberately not tell younger!Noah that he is going to fall for Elisabeth so he would fall for her out of his own volition and *not* because he wants to fulfill his destiny?" then you are absolutely correct. In fact, I originally planned to end it with a mirror scene, now this Noah being older!Noah so it comes full-circle so to speak. But I didn't want to end this fic on an angsty note, canon dealt them a tragic enough hand already.


End file.
